


Pieces

by Rain_Yayy



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Boarding School, High School, Romance, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-12
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-07-12 12:35:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7103596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rain_Yayy/pseuds/Rain_Yayy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone is in search of their soulmate. It’s like a puzzle, and there are always several pieces that look like they will fit. But there’s only one that will actually fit.<br/>It’s a lot easier when said piece is a physical mark on your wrist, and your soulmate has the other piece that completes it.<br/>But what if you meet a bunch of people that have seemingly similar marks? How will you find your soulmate then?<br/>Either way, Jeonghans life takes an unexpected turn when he meets people that share his mark.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Foreword

**Author's Note:**

> This work has originally been posted to my aff page. Story can be found via [this link](www.asianfanfics.com)

I started this story because I was always interested in the concept of soulmates. There are some interesting theories on it, and even more interesting is thinking about how life would be if we carried marks connecting us to soulmates.  
It's always fun to think about those things, and now you get to enjoy it too. Well, at least i hope you enjoy it.


	2. Unexpected

“According to Greek mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate parts, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves.”   
― [ **Plato**](https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/879.Plato), [ **The Symposium**](https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1488719)

 

\---

 

_“People are always in search of their soulmates. Loneliness is a terrible feeling and we all try to escape it. It’s in our nature. Even those who claim to prefer solitude turn out to have a soft spot for certain people. This is all still explainable and logical. One thing, however, that still leaves us in the dark, are the marks we all carry. Not only is it remarkable that we all have a mark like this, but there is also another person that carries the mark to complete our own. There are a lot of marks out there that are similar, but there is no guarantee that just because a mark seemingly completes yours, that you have found your soul mate. You still need to get to know each other first before things start clearing up._

 

_And that brings us to the weird part. The so called soulmates are seemingly connected on more than a spiritual level. Extremely strong emotions sometimes affect their other half. One half can be fine one moment, and feel overwhelming sadness the next because of their soul mate. Pain is also sometimes somehow transferred. It also seems that the soulmates are drawn to each other. There have been stories of people travelling to the other side of the world because they felt they had to go there, and meeting their soulmate._

 

_When one has actually found, and fallen in love with their soulmate, a red string of fate will appear and wrap around the wrist, forever marking the soulmates as connected._   
_Scientists still aren’t sure how the marks do what they do but…”_

 

The teacher suddenly stopped the student reading out loud mid-sentence, loudly clearing his throat as he focused on a student resting their head on their arms, seemingly asleep.

“Can someone wake up mister Yoon? It seems th-“

 

Jeonghan looked up, his long locks covering half his face. “Don’t worry sir, I am awake.”

Shaking his head, he tried to get the hair out of the way. It gently swayed around, eventually framing his face like a soft lilac curtain.   
Around him, several people held their breath in admiration. Another few just stared in jealousy. But he did not notice them, tucking a few strands behind his ear as he shifted his attention to the empty page in the notebook in front of him. Since when did he neglect to take notes?

 

“Since you claim to be awake, why not summarize what mr. Hong Jisoo here just said?”

The student that was reading the report made a face, muttering that his name was Joshua, not Jisoo.

 

Jeonghan heaved a sigh in a way that was rather uncharacteristic to him. He did not know why, but he was feeling incredibly annoyed and defiant for an unknown reason. He decided to give in. He was in trouble anyway, not having paid attention to the report his classmate read out aloud. Might as well go all the way. One snarky comment wouldn’t hurt his perfect reputation that much, right?

 

“Yoon Jeonghan?”

 

“I said I was awake, I didn’t say I was paying attention.”

 

“What did you just say there?”

 

“Oh sorry, I said I was awake, I didn’t say I was paying attention, _sir_.”

 

Several gasps arose from students in the classroom, and all expectantly turned their stares at the teacher. The man kept silent as he tried to take in the situation. This kind of behaviour from a model student was probably something he never experienced before and it was clear he did not know how to handle it. Especially not from someone who was normally such a gentle person.

 

Suddenly, in the front left corner of the classroom, a girl started laughing. Her giggles were followed by the scoffing of a male student. A few students behind them shared concerned glances. Since he was a few rows behind them, he could see all this clearly.

 

“Isn’t this priceless? The class prince finally steps out of line and old man Park does not know how to respond to this. Never thought I’d ever see this day.”

 

Hearing this comment, the girl stopped laughing, her big brown eyes widening even more as she realized her friend could get in trouble for his sarcastic remarks. She tried elbowing the boy to signal him to stop. He dodged the movement with ease

 

This seemed to snap the teacher out of his thoughts. “Kim Namjoon?”

“Yeah?”

 

“Shut up.”

 

He scoffed again. “Typical.”

 

“I was about to give mr. Yoon here detention. If you want to join him, please, continue.”

 

Jeonghan just blankly stared at the scene unfolding in front of him. The realisation of what he just did was finally starting to dawn on him and he suddenly started to wonder whatever prompted him to do something like this.

 

The girl that laughed put her hand on Namjoons arm, giving him a warning look. She seemed to be mouthing something to him, but her silver hair blocked the view in a way that he could not see what she was mouthing. All he saw was that Namjoon closed his mouth and suddenly all the attention was back on him.

 

“You heard it, right mr. Yoon? I want to talk to you after class and you’re in detention this afternoon.”

 

Jeonghan only nodded, not knowing how to react to the situation he found himself in.

 

All of a sudden the bell rang, signalling the end of class and the start of lunch break. Students around him began packing up their books, and he slowly did the same.

 

“Don’t forget to pick up the next book on the reading list in the library!” The teacher tried to remind them, but his voice was drowned out by the chatter of the students leaving the class to get lunch in the schools dining hall.

 

When he looked up, he found the silver haired girl next to his table, Namjoon patiently waiting at the door.

“Hey Jeonghan… Are you okay? I might have laughed but it was so out of character; it surprised me.”

 

He looked at her as she dug a beanie out of her bag. It was not allowed to wear hats and such during class but since it was lunch, it was technically not against the rules.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little tired. Thanks for worrying about me Jihye. Just go on ahead, Namjoon is waiting for you.”

 

She gave him one more worried glance but left with Namjoon anyway.

He just watched her leave the classroom. He and Jihye used to be best friends, but she changed when she started hanging out with Namjoon and his friends. They were still friends, it was just different.

 

Jeonghan gathered his bag and slowly made his way to the front of the class, where mr. Park sat, grading the post-break papers they turned in.

 

“You wanted to talk to me?”

 

The teacher looked up, seemingly examining him. He suddenly felt really self-conscious, knowing that he looked rather pale and had dark circles forming under his eyes. Usually, students didn’t look this tired after break, and he was well aware of that. Mr. Park opened his mouth and Jeonghan was afraid that he’d ask about his home situation, suspecting it to be the reason he looked like this.

His situation at home was exactly the reason why, but Jeonghan would rather avoid the subject. The less people knew about the drama at home, the better.

Expecting the worst, he was rather surprised by the words that did come out of his teachers mouth.

 

“You should really not stay up that late, kid. It’s showing, and honestly, it’s not a good look on you. Makes you cranky too.”

 

“Uh, I...” he stammered, not knowing how to react to this unexpected turn of events.

 

“Just promise me you’ll go to sleep on time tonight, okay?”

 

“Yes sir.”

 

“Okay. Then all is well. Detention is still on though. I can’t go around excusing students from punishment, that would be unfair to the rest of your class. Now off you go, I am trying to grade these papers and the friends you have waiting outside are distracting me.

 

Jeonghan nodded, bowing before leaving the classroom. Outside, his friends were indeed waiting. All but Jihye he noticed as he looked around the small group of people.

 

“If you’re looking for Jihye, she snuck off earlier with Namjoon. Something about medicine. I suspect they’re off to find a quiet place to kiss. Auch!”

The boy with wavy black hair rubbed his arm as he stared in disbelief at the girl who slapped him.

 

“Yah, Chanhee, that hurt!”

 

The girl with curly hair, dyed in soft pastel colors, put her hands on her hips.

 

“That’s what you get for making insensitive comments like that, Taekwoon. Jihye is our friend and if she explicitly tells us they are not dating, we should believe her. Besides, how do you think Jeonghan and Yejin feel? ”

 

Taekwoon lowered his head in shame, his black bangs hiding his face from sight.

“Sorry.”

 

A quiet brown haired girl suddenly hit Chanhee. “Yah, keep me out of this!”

 

“Stop hitting me Yejin!”

 

While watching this scene unfold, Jeonghan suddenly felt a tug at his sleeve and he looked sideways, only to be met with pink hair. It was so close, he could feel it tickle his nose. It actually smelled kind of good, like the candyfloss the hair resembled so much. Just as he opened his mouth to say something about it, Joshua worked his way between them, wrapping an arm around each of their shoulder.

 

“Let’s go get lunch Jeonghan, Jihoon. They’ll be be busy for a while anyway and I am getting hungry.”

 

Just like Jihoon, Jeonghan only nodded as they were ushered off by Joshua for lunch. It might have been a weird day, he was happy to be back at school.

He had missed his friends during break. Since they were all busy, they barely hung out, but back at school they could at least spend lunch together.

Just thinking of it was enough to make him smile. As long as he had his friends, everything would be alright.

 

\---

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Lee Jihoon** → _Woozi_  
>  **Hong Jisoo** → _Joshua_  
>  **Jung Taekwoon** → (VIXX) _Leo_  
>  **Kim Namjoon** → (BTS) _Rapmonster_  
>  **Choi Yejin** → _OC_  
>  **Lee Chanhee** → _OC_  
>  **Boo Jihye** → _OC_


	3. Detention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N : Sorry for taking so long! I already had this chapter (and several others) ready, but I was waiting for my proofreader. I usually don't work with those but I thought I'd give it a try with this story... But things took kinda long because we are both busy persons. But I hope you enjoyed the new chapter ♥

Standing still, Jeonghan looked up at the number written on the classroom. Room 4-1a was the right room, he recalled. Or at least, he thought so. He wasn’t sure.

Glancing through the window into classroom 4-1a, he saw a few people already gathered there, talking and smiling, like there was nothing wrong. Was this really the right room?

“Are you going to go in or are you just going to be staring?”

At the sound of the familiar voice, he turned around. “Namjoon? What are you doing here?”

The blonde boy cocked his head towards the classroom. “Detention, what else?”

Jeonghan shrugged. He had no idea what else to expect. Namjoon got detention at least three times a week, so this wasn’t that much of a surprise. He didn’t even bother asking why, it probably was something trivial anyway. Teachers didn’t like Namjoon and Namjoon didn’t like the teachers. It was simple as that.

 

The blonde boy just shook his head, opening the door and entering the detention room. “You coming or nah?”

Jeonghan nodded, following him into the room. As soon as he entered the room, the conversations fell quiet and everyone stared at him. Trying to ignore the piercing stares, he made his way to a desk in the far right corner, sitting down there. Opening his bag, he pulled out the book mr. Park reminded everyone getting because it was next on the reading list for English. He opened it and the people lost interest in him, resuming their conversation.

 

He got so engrossed in the book, he didn’t even notice there was someone standing right in front of him. Suddenly, a bag from an apothecary nearby dropped on his book. Looking up, he saw Jihye standing in front of him. “Your sister called, told me you forgot your medicine.”

Jeonghan picked up the bag, inspecting the contents. There was his medicine, indeed. But that was not the only thing in the bag. There were hot patches, cold patches, sheet masks and several other beauty products he left at home, albeit not voluntarily.

 

His father had taken them out of his luggage, telling him he didn’t need those because he was a man and a real man didn’t need that much product. He had also taken his medicine away, telling him that he didn’t need it, but that he just needed to sleep it off. And, since he already slept a lot in general, he must have been the healthiest person on earth.

 

Often, he complained his son was useless and weak and wondered why the gods were punishing him with a weak child that was not fit to take over the family company. His mother was useless as well, letting it all happen. In fact, she usually pretended she didn’t have a son, unless she was trying to use him to brag to all her stuck up rich friends. Then, all of a sudden he was her precious son and she was proud of his good reputation and perfect grades. His sister was all he had, and he was grateful for everything she did for him.

“Thanks…” He mumbled, quickly packing the plastic bag away in his own bag.

 

Jihye dropped down in a chair next to him. “Yeah, you better be grateful. I’m in detention because I got caught sneaking back onto school grounds because I was getting this for you.”

Jeonghan just stared at her in shock. “You did that for me?”

She grinned, adjusting her beanie. “Of course, you silly. In fact, this isn’t the first time I got detention because I was out running errands for you.”

“You don’t have to do that for me!”

“I know. But I do it anyways. Who else is going to take care of you?” Her grin turned into a soft smile as she reached out to fix his hair. “I like seeing you happy and healthy, and I’d gladly take up detention if that means that there is someone taking care of you. Besides, detention every once in awhile is not so bad.”

“Jihye…” Jeonghan mumbled, his heart filling with warmth as he watched her fix his hair. He couldn’t have wished for a better friend.

“Yah, Jihye, Jeonghan, we’re playing card games. Wanna join?” Namjoon interrupted them as he sat down on Jihye’s table.

“Isn’t there supposed a teacher supervising us?” Jeonghan furrowed his brows in confusion. They had been here a while but there was no teacher present in the room.

“Oh, mrs. Kim? She drops by every once in awhile to check on us. You were just too busy with your book to notice. Anyways, want to join?”

Jeonghan followed Namjoon and Jihye to the group of tables in the middle. A few people were gathered around it, looking rather beaten up.

“Everyone, this is Jeonghan. This is his first time here, so be nice to him. Jeonghan, these are Taehyung, Jimin, Seokmin, Seungcheol and Soonyoung. These guys over here are the four transfer students we got from China last year; Yifan, Luhan, Minghao and Junhui. Yeah, I know, it’s a lot.” The nine boys just grinned at them, even though they had bruises on their faces. He wondered why. “These two over here making googly eyes at each other are Wonwoo and Mingyu. Note that their red string of fate has formed, so they’re stuck with each other forever. And then there’s us. But you already know us.”

Wonwoo and Mingyu briefly flashed him smiles before going back to staring at each other. Honestly, it was a little creepy how they could keep it up. Jeonghan really wished at that moment that he and his soulmate wouldn’t be as cheesy as them.

Jihye nudged both of them, and they looked up, blankly staring at her. “Yah! This is the moment where you show him your marks!”

They blinked slowly, whilst rolling up the sleeves of their school uniforms. Jeonghan’s eyes widened. The marks on their wrists looked like unfinished 17’s, just like his own. The only difference being that their red string of fate not only wrapped around their wrist, but also seemingly completed the mark.

Unconsciously he touched his own wrist.

Averting his gaze, he noticed that all the other boys had rolled up their sleeves, comparing their marks. Namjoon’s, Taehyung’s and Jimins looked like some kind of piece of clothing. A vest maybe? Yifan’s and Luhan’s like it could be part of some horoscope. But what drew his attention the most was the fact that Seokmin’s, Seungcheol’s, Junhui’s, Minghao’s and Soonyoung’s also looked like unfinished 17’s.

Four more wrists came into view. There was yet another sort of vest, another unfinished 17 and two that looked like some sort of intricate flower. The sight was all too familiar. Looking up, he saw the rest of his friends grinning at him. The flowers belonged to Chanhee and Taekwoon, who were playfully bumping each other, trying to get the others wrist out of the way. The vest belonged to Yejin, who pulled her arm away soon after. The 17 was Joshua’s.

“Jihoon, Jihye, show us yours!” Jihoon and Jihye both looked at each other, noticing that they were not the only one not showing their wrist. Jihoon stared down at his wrist, staying silent.

“I don’t want to.” Jihye mumbled, pulling at her sleeve, seemingly uncomfortable. “And I don’t think Jihoon wants to either.”

“Aw c’mon, you’re no fun!” She glared at Seungchol.

“Then I’d rather be no fun. If I don’t want to, I won’t show.” The piercing glare seemed to shut him up. If looks could kill, he’d probably be dead by now.

“Speaking of fun, there must be a fun story behind the bruises you guys seem to be grinning about?” Junhui shot a confused look at Minghao, who quickly explained the situation in Mandarin. Junhui had only been in Korea for about a year, and sometimes the language still confused him. But overall, he was picking it up quite quickly. Minghao just helped him out whenever things got a little confusing. Truth be told, he was still learning himself, but since he’d been in Korea a year longer, he knew more than Junhui.

 

Seungcheol patiently waited as Junhui talked to Minghao.

 

“Oh, it’s no big deal. You know how the college students in the west building basically think they’re entitled to everything because they’ve been here the longest and shit? Well, this time, they come up to us and act all friendly n shit. We didn’t trust it. Tryna give us food, offer us some cigs. Of course we refused, turns out they wanted us to do the morning chores that were assigned to them as punishment for smoking on school grounds. So we refuse, and they get all mad because they were being nice to us and the least we could do is do what they asked from us.”

 

Next to Seungcheol, his friends seemed to be pretty pissed off, thinking back to the event. But they kept silent, not interrupting as they absentmindedly rolled their sleeves back down and fixed the cufflinks on their uniforms.

 

“Anyways, they got mad and threatened us, and that’s how we got in a fight. But someone must have warned campus security because the fight was broken up not long after. Otherwise, things would have been far worse than they are now. If you think we look beaten up, you should see the other guys.“

 

Jeonghan didn’t listen intently, but enough to still hear the story. Instead, he was checking out the boys that also wore the 17 mark. Wondering how such a big group of people with the same mark could have found each other and become friends, he missed the question fired back at him.

 

Jihye nudged his shoulder and he tore himself away from his thoughts. “Sorry, you were saying?”

 

“I asked how you ended up here in detention. It was quite the talk during lunch, one of the schools princes in detention.”

 

Jeonghan had to tear his eyes away from Seungcheol’s lips. They were distracting. The fact that he was surrounded by such good-looking boys didn’t help either. “Well, you’re one of the school princes yourself, and you’re here too.”

 

Seungcheol laughed at the remark. A few of the surrounding people cracked a grin as well. It seemed like the tense mood was finally start to clear up. “Yeah, but I get in trouble from time to time. So me being in detention isn’t a big deal. You on the other hand, you have this perfect reputation, so it’s kind of a big deal among the girls at this school.”

 

Jeonghan nodded. Seungcheol wasn’t wrong. “It’s actually not such an interesting story. I wasn’t paying attention in class, and it looked like i was sleeping apparently. When the teacher called me out on it I told him I was awake, he asked me to summarize the class. Told him I was awake, not that I was paying attention. When he asked me ‘what’ I told him the same thing and added a ‘sir’ at the end. And that’s why he gave me detention.”

 

It was silent for a bit, before Yifan burst out laughing, Junhui following soon after. Mingyu and Wonwoo threw each other confused glances while the rest burst out in laughter as well. They had been too busy staring at each other to pay attention. Jeonghan thought it was funny how they both looked so helpless, surrounded by laughing people.

 

"Oh man, you really are something,” Soonyoung exclaimed before his eyes went wide, signalling everyone to stop. Everyone immediately shuffled around to their original positions, Yejin, Chanhee, Woozi, Joshua and Taekwoon quickly spreading through the classroom to sit down as well.

 

Jeonghan, sitting in his original spot, saw a young boy giving Soonyoung a thumbs up before sprinting away. Soonyoung noticed Jeonghan looking, and gave him a knowing smile before focusing on the book in front of him.

 

A few minutes went by before the door opened, and a teacher walked in. Well, it was more of a staggering he noticed as she came towards him. The smell of alcohol wafted all around her as she came standing next to him, lingering before walking away. He dared not look up again, afraid of what might happen if he did. Everyone else seemed to be doing the same thing, so he rather not find out what would happen.

 

Mrs. Kim went by everyone, checking their names of a list before leaving the room again. They waited a few minutes before the same young boy came sneaking back in. “She’s all gone guys, you can relax!”

 

Everyone dropped their books, gathering in the middle again. Soonyoung messed through the young boys hair, much to the youngers dismay. “Ya did good, kid.”

 

Jihye laughed as she pulled him away from Soonyoung. “Come on Soonyoung, you know he doesn’t like it when you ruffle his hair.”

 

“But it’s so fluffy!” Soonyoung answered, watching Jihye fix the fluffy black hair.

 

“Hey Dino, who’s baby are you?”

 

Dino, who seemed to be startled by the use of his nickname, looked around, effectively undoing Jihye’s efforts to fix the hair.  
There were only few people who actually called him Dino, and Jeonghan was one of them.  
“Hyung, are you really making me do this?”

 

Jihye sighed. “Yah, Chan, stay still. I can’t fix your hair like this!”

 

“Sorry, noona.”

 

Jeonghan’s grin grew wider, and slightly evil as he asked Chan the question again. “Who’s baby are you?”

 

Chan slumped his shoulders, trying to keep his head still as Jihye  fixed his hair.

 

“Jeonghan hyungs.” He grumbled. “He makes me do this every time!” He whined, looking at the group in front of him that burst out into laughter.

 

Yejin joined Jihye in fixing Chan’s hair, whilst Seokmin took the opportunity to pinch his cheek. “Ah, our cute little watchdog!”

 

“Why is everyone trying to steal my brother away?” Chanhee complained, sitting on a desk nearby.

 

Soonyoung tilted his head. “Oh, so you’re the peacock haired sister?” He asked, making Chanhee pout.

 

“I’m not a peacock! They’re unicorn colors, not peacock!”

 

Soonyoung laughed as Taekwoon held an arm out, as if to hold Chanhee back, but she stayed seated. “Haha, okay, it’s unicorn, whatever you want.”

 

Yejin softly patted Chan’s head, as if to indicate his hair was done. “You sure go around, knowing all these people.”

 

“It’s a gift,” Chan grinned, before dashing off to keep watch again.

 

Watching him leave, they noticed him signing to sit back down. They rushed back to their respective seats and pretended to be working when mrs. Kim staggered in again.

 

“Dino, how sweet to wait for your sister!” she purred. Mrs. Kim was definitely a goner. “All of you. You're the reason that I drink. Now shoo, detention is over!”

 

She didn't have to slur that again. Within the minute everyone had packed up and was out the door. Chanhee went over to her brother, trying to hug him, but he would have none of that. Ducking under her arms, he fled to seek cover behind Soonyoung.

 

“Oppa!” Yejin suddenly exclaimed, running over to the college student standing close to them in the hallway. “Did you come to pick me up?”

 

He smiled, patting her hair, careful not to mess it up. “I sure did. Mom and dad wanted to go out for dinner and stuff. Said they had something good to tell us.”

 

Yejin frowned. “Did we get permission to leave school grounds for the evening?”

 

Her brother nodded. “Yeah we did. Are your friends okay with me stealing you away though?”

Looking around, he noticed that nobody but Chan was impressed by his cool demeanor. He expected it from Yejin’s friends, since they already knew him, but he had hoped to at least impress the other kids his sister just had detention with.

 

“Oh yeah, we’re totally fine with Yejin going with you… what’s your name again?” Jeonghan smiled innocently. He knew the name perfectly well, but a lot of people seemed to forget his name, and he would always reply the same way.

 

As Yejin’s brother opened his mouth, Jeonghan could hear Seungcheol, Soonyoung, Yifan and Jihye softly whisper “dibidibidis” under their breath.

 

“My name is Minho!” he whined, causing everyone to burst out in laughter. Well, so far for acting cool in front of Yejin’s friends. But the better he looked, the more familiar faces he saw. All people that knew he wasn’t as cool as he wanted people to believe.

 

“Oh, Minho. My mom wanted me to give you this.” Minho looked confused at the envelope Jihye handed him. “It’s an invitation for the dinner party my parents are hosting this weekend. They wanted me to invite you personally.”

 

“And here I was hoping you were asking me out.”

 

“Not in a million years, loverboy.”

 

“How about you, Chanhee? My heart is broken now, will you nurse me back to health?”

 

“In your dreams.”

 

Minho shrugged and walked away. Jeonghan laughed. He saw them have these kinds of conversation every time they met, and they always ended with Minho being rejected.

 

“Bye guys!” Yejin waved as she followed her brother.

 

“Yeah, we also gotta bail guys. Might not be a bad idea to have these bruises tended to by the school nurse.” Seungcheol motioned his friends and they left to head to the nursery.

 

Chanhee put an arm around her younger brother. “We have to go too. Gotta get ready for that benefit we told you about. Bye!”

 

Chan looked displeased with his sister's affection, but he let her do it anyway as they walked off.

 

Taekwoon sighed. “Gotta go. Bye”

 

“Oh, hyung! We have vocal lessons!” Jihoon exclaimed, practically dragging Joshua and Jeonghan away. Joshua managed to turn around for a second, waving his goodbye before disappearing around the corner.

 

Jihye looked at Namjoon. “Cafeteria?”

 

“Yeah”

 

\---

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Lee Jihoon** → _Woozi_  
>  **Hong Jisoo** → _Joshua_  
>  **Choi Seungcheol** → _S.Coups_  
>  **Lee Seokmin** → _DK_  
>  **Kwon Soonyoung** → _Hoshi_  
>  **Wen Junhui** → _Jun_  
>  **Xu Minghao** → _The8_  
>  **Lee Chan** → _Dino_  
>  **Wu Yifan**  → (Former EXO) _Kris_  
>  **Jung Taekwoon** → (VIXX) _Leo_  
>  **Kim Namjoon** → (BTS) _Rapmonster_  
>  **Kim Taehyung** → (BTS) _V_  
>  **Choi Yejin** → _OC_  
>  **Lee Chanhee** → _OC_  
>  **Boo Jihye** → _OC_


	4. Mystery

Jeonghan struggled to keep his eyes open. How much longer was this stand-in vocal coach going to drag out the class? He was hungry and tired.

Joshua seemed exhausted as well, but he still managed to give him a reassuring smile once he noticed Jeonghan looking at him. Jihoon didn’t seem tired as he strained his voice once more to hit the high note, but then again, Jihoon was good at hiding his tiredness.

Some of the other classmates looked tired as well.

 

“Oh, would you look at the time!” The substitute looked at his watch. “I’m sorry for keeping you all here so long! You’re all free to go. Get some dinner while you can and don’t forget to drink enough water. It’s important that you take good care of yourselves.” He looked apologetically at everyone as they packed their stuff and left the classroom.

 

Hoisting his bag over his shoulder, Jeonghan followed Joshua and Jihoon out the classroom and to the cafeteria. It was surprisingly quiet as they neared the big hall that was the cafeteria.

Walking in, it became clear that the large room was mostly empty. Probably because dinner time was almost over. The staff was already preparing to clear out the buffet, patiently waiting for the last students to grab their dinner.

 

They got in line, Joshua telling a funny story about his friend back in America, whom he visited during the break. Jeonghan kept silent, listening as he loaded food onto his plate.

Todays menu consisted of an entree of seaweed soup and a main course of fresh fish, sweet potato and vegetables in the form of a salad from the salad bar.

The desert was a grass jelly pudding topped with a palm sugar and coconut cream. The black pudding wobbled with every step he took, as they looked for their friends.

 

Joshua eventually found them, leading Jeonghan and Jihoon to a table in the far right corner where Jihye seemed to be having a heated discussion with Taekwoon, stopping their whispering as soon as they came near.

They kept silent as they sat down, giving Joshua the chance to say grace before the three of them dug in. Taekwoon and Jihye had half empty trays in front of them, but did not seem to be planning on finishing their food.

 

“Y’know, for an elite boarding school you'd expect more luxurious food.”

 

Jeonghan looked up to see who the voice belonged to, slowly chewing on a piece of fish.

The owner of the voice, a guy he got to know as Soonyoung, dropped down next to him. Wonwoo and Mingyu sat down next to Soonyoung. Seokmin and Seungcheol now occupied the seats in front of him, on the left to Jihye and Taekwoon. Junhui and Minghao had taken the seats on their right.

 

Jeonghan couldn’t help but study Junhui’s face. Even bruised it was oddly mesmerizing. It was only when he realized an envelope was being waved up and down in front of him that he broke out of his trance. Quickly he looked around to see if anyone noticed.

It appeared they didn't, too busy with whatever their loud conversations were about.

Taking the envelope dangling in front of his face, he saw Junhui giving him a knowing smile.

 

Shit. He noticed.

 

Trying to avoid more attention he looked at the envelope in his hands. “Yah, Jihye, what's this?”

 

“It’s your invite to the dinner party. I wanted to give it to you personally, to make sure it didn't get lost in the mail. I wanted to give it to you sooner but i kinda forgot.”

 

Jeonghan nodded, knowing she was lying. Mail addressed to him would often mysteriously go missing and he suspected his dad and stepmother were behind it, but there is nothing he could do about it. So Jihye would always deliver his mail personally.

 

“Ah, thanks.”

 

She smiled and turned to look around the table. “You and your parents all got the invitation as well, right?“

 

Everyone except Junhui and Minghao nodded.

 

“Oh yeah Jun, Ming,”

Minghao visibly cringed at the nickname.

“Hao... “ Jihye quickly added.

“I have your invitations here…” She mumbled, handing them envelopes. “And if you would just write your adresses down here, we can send your families invites as well. Just make sure to tell them the invites are on the way, so they at least know they are invited. My parents would be honored to have your families attending.”

 

Jeonghan stared down at his own envelope. It felt heavy in his hands. Rich people were socialites and they wanted to connect with other rich people as much as possible, so there was a big possibility his own parents were invited as well.

But since it seemed a lot of these people, and also a couple of his friends, got invitations too, he'd probably survive.

 

“Wanna go Jihye? We still have that thing to discuss?” Taekwoon gathered his tray, waiting for her to join him. She nodded, taking back the paper the chinese boys had written their addresses on.

 

“Are you going to finish that?” Mingyu suddenly asked, pointing at the grass jelly pudding on Taekwoons tray.

 

He shook his head. “Take it.”

 

Mingyu leaned over and carefully took the wobbly jelly. Taekwoon and Jihye just started to walk away when Mingyu yelled after them. “You're not throwing yours out, right Jihye? Because I would be very happy to eat it!”

 

“Sorry! Promised Hansol could have mine!” The boy in question just walked up to her, taking the plate with pudding off her tray.

 

“Thanks for the pudding!” He smiled at her before dropping down next to Seokmin, in the spot Taekwoon was sitting before.

 

“Yeah, yeah,” she cut him off. “Have you seen my lil brother?”

 

Hansol looked up, a drop of cream stuck next to the corner of his mouth. “He was right behind me?”

 

She put the tray back down. “Then I'm leaving his food here. He'll come for it eventually. I'm not his maid!”

 

Everyone just laughed as she walked away. Jeonghan laughed as well, watching her walk away again, wondering what she had to discuss with Taekwoon when a boy with a bright smile and fluffy brown hair dropped down in the seat in front of him. “Ah. Food!”

 

“Eat it slowly this time Seungkwan. We don't want you choking like last time.” Hansol reminded him. Seungkwan nodded as he dug into the fish and sweet potatoes Jihye had left for him. She’d only eaten the soup and half of the salad, but Seungkwan didn’t seem interested in the sparse amount of greens.

 

“You've been spacing out a lot today, Jeonghan. Are you okay?” Joshua put his hand on Jeonghan’s arm, giving him a worried look. Jeonghan looked back at Joshua. His face was closer than expected and his heart skipped a beat in shock.

 

“Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired.” He mumbled, pushing his tray away from him. It was still half full, but he couldn't be bothered, having lost his appetite. He’d already struggled eating the fish and the salad. “Hey Wonwoo. Want the rest of my meal? I already ate the fish anyway.”

 

Wonwoo looked up from the pudding he was sharing with Mingyu. Jeonghan overheard them talking about dinner during detention, discovering that Wonwoo didn't eat seafood.

Wonwoo nodded and graciously accepted the tray full of food, happily sharing it with everyone. Jeonghan got up and gathered his bag before walking away.

 

“Yah, Jeonghan! Wait up!” Joshua and Jihoon scrambled as they grabbed their things as well, quickly bidding everybody goodbye before chasing after Jeonghan. They caught up with him fairly quickly as he slowly strolled out of the building, heading towards the dorms appointed to the male high schoolers.

 

“What’s wrong?” Joshua asked as Jeonghan quickened his pace, now that they’d caught up with him.

 

“It’s nothing. I’m just really tired.”

 

“You do look really tired. Are you feeling okay?” Jihoon opened the door to the dorms, entering the common room behind them. The room was very loud, students lazing about, others making homework. Somewhere off to the right, there was an impromptu dance battle going on.

 

“I’m fine.” Jeonghan answered as they made their way through the crowded room, heading for the elevators.

 

“You don’t look fine.”

 

They rode the elevator in silence, all the way to the top floor.

 

“Look guys, I really appreciate your concern, but I am fine. I’m just tired, so I’m going to rest for a bit, then make homework and go to bed early.”

 

Joshua and Jihoon exchanged a quick glance before smiling weakly. “If you say so…”

 

They watched Jeonghan unlock the door to his room, waving them goodbye with a tired smile, before the door closed between them. Walking towards Joshua’s room, they both looked back one more time before going in.

 

Something was wrong, they both sensed it. He’d been acting different all day, waving it off like it was nothing, like he always did. Sweet Jeonghan, hiding everything behind a gentle smile.  The only ones that seemed to know what was going on in his life, better yet, inside his head, were his sister and Jihye.

They tried confronting them, but it was no use.

Jihye just put on the same gentle smile as Jeonghan would, avoiding the topic.

When they confronted his sister, she also just smiled gently, patting their heads. Even if it was meant to be calming, all it did was make them feel like they were little kids again. When inquiring further, the smile seemed a little strained, as she told them it wasn’t her place to tell them these things and that they should ask him themselves.

Upon hearing that he didn’t want to, she told them to be patient and wait till he was ready to tell them himself and that it was disrespectful to go around Jeonghan’s back to try to get answers to questions he wasn’t ready to answer himself.

They felt guilty, knowing she was right, and stopped prying after that.

 

Now, years later, Jeonghan still hid behind a gentle smile, still mysteriously hiding his deepest self from his friends.

Joshua had known him since kindergarten, where he, Jeonghan, Yejin and Jihye were inseparable all the way till second grade. That’s when Joshua’s parents decided to move to America. When he came back, it was the first year of middle school, and the group of friends was no longer inseparable.

Jeonghan was in class 1-1, only hanging with Jihye. Yejin was in class 1-2, hanging with Chanhee and Taekwoon, and occasionally with Jihye and/or Joshua. Joshua was in class 1-4, where he met Jihoon, and the two of them instantly became friends.

 

In the second grade of middle school, they all ended up in class 2-2 together, and it didn’t take long before they formed 1 group of friends. Joshua learned here that Jeonghan’s mother had passed away in an accident, and that he had changed a lot.

He used to be a bright and cheerful kid, but now he was calm and reserved. He smiled a lot whenever they were around, but Joshua caught his smile fading away at times when he thought they weren’t looking.

 

Jihye transferred schools in the third year, to attend the prestigious boarding school her family had founded. It was a boarding school that offered education from 1st grade all the way till high school.

There was even a preparatory college, offering courses to prepare for university. Students that went to the prep college almost always got into the best universities and got good jobs.

It was the first year the school offered primary and middle school, as it first focused on high school and prep college, so naturally Jihye would attend the school founded by her family.

 

With Jihye at another school, the friends had hoped that Jeonghan would open up more, but instead he closed himself off even more. They would have fun and Jeonghan would genuinely enjoy it, but whenever conversations got too deep, he would keep to himself.

They knew secrets about each other that would never see the light, but he still kept a lot of secrets from them.

 

Start of high school, the rest of them transferred to Hallyu academy as well. Being the children of wealthy parents, it was a logical step to send their kids to the most prestigious academy around. Upon request, they all were placed in the same class again and their friendship bloomed now that they were at the same boarding school. Jeonghan seemed happier than he’d been in a long time and the rest of them enjoyed the boarding school more than their normal school life as well.

The only downside was that they weren’t allowed to leave school grounds, but that didn’t stop certain students from sneaking off and back onto school grounds to get the stuff they needed, so that the rest wouldn't get in trouble.

 

During their second year of high school, the group became a little less tight-knit, due to making others friends in their now-mandatory extra curricular activities.

Chanhee and Taekwoon joined one of the many performance courses; Jihoon, Joshua and Jeonghan joined another one. Yejin and Jihye joined one that focused a little more on hiphop, meeting Namjoon and his friends.

 

Completely against their expectations, Jihye started hanging out with Namjoon a lot more than she did with them. In fact, she only just hung out with them when they were not in public.

It shocked people to not see her and Jeonghan together anymore, because they thought they were meant to be soulmates, even though the two of them didn't seem to have any romantic interest in each other.

The friends were just shocked because as far as everyone knew, they were best friends.

 

Since she was supposed to be so close to Jeonghan, having known him the longest because they’d been friends ever since they were babies, Joshua confronted her about the sudden change in behavior.

How could she do this to them? How could she do this to Jeonghan after all they’d been through? She just smiled sadly, saying it was for his own good, refusing to say anything else on the topic.

But she did spend a little more time with them after that.

 

And now they were in their third year, still in the same class, still hanging out. They even got detention to make sure Jeonghan would be okay since he never got detention before.

Chanhee, Yejin, Joshua, and Jihoon deliberately skipped PE. Jeonghan wouldn't know they did this for him, because he was excused from taking PE classes due to health issues. He instead spent the time with a personal trainer.

Jihye and Namjoon actually made sure to get caught sneaking back onto school grounds.

Taekwoon had just simply strolled into detention with the rest of them.

 

Jihoon pouted at the memory of being in detention together.

 

“What's wrong?” Joshua asked, looking up from the book he was reading. It was the book they had to read for English. It was his second language and they still made him take the course. But Joshua didn't mind. It was nice reading and writing in english for a change.

 

“Jeonghan didn't even thank us!”

 

Joshua laughed. “That's what got you pouting?”

 

Jihoon frowned. “I was pouting?”

 

He pursed his lips in annoyance. The pouting was something he'd rather not do because it always resulted in people pinching his cheeks and telling him he was cute. He was not a kid anymore!

 

“Yeah you were.” Joshua yawned as he reached for a piece of paper,  placing it on the page he was reading before closing the book. Jihoon mimicked the action with his own book, knowing Joshua would kick him out soon. But he didn't wait for Joshua to actually tell him to get out. He had some other thing planned for now. Something he'd been preparing for all break long. And it still didn't seem enough.

 

“You're going?”

 

Jihoon nodded, trying to hide how nervous he was feeling. Joshua seemed oblivious as he stood up to place the book on the pile of books that had gathered on his desk. “See ya tomorrow!”

 

Joshua yawned again, waving him out as Jihoon closed the door, leaning against it to gather his breath. Pushing himself off of it, he took the few steps it took to go from Joshua’s room to his destination.

 

Gathering up his courage, he lifted his hand to knock on the door. After a while, the door opened, revealing a sleepy face.

 

“Oh hey, Jihoon. What brings you here this time of night?”

 

“Can we talk?”

\---

 

_A/N Hi there! Sorry ~~not sorry~~ for leaving you with a cliffhanger. Like omigosh! A shy Jihoon? What is he planning? Who is he talking to? Is this why he has been acting so silent and passive? Is he going to go back to his sarcastic and slightly mean self after this?_

 

_Yes, Jihoon hasn't acted like that in the story so far, but we all know that he looks like a cinnamon bun, but could actually kill you._

_I was going to be a very mean author and update with the shortest chapter to follow up on this. I know, evil right?_

 

_In the end, I guess you guys have my proofreader to thank for this. She convinced me it was better to merge the two together, so instead of 2 cliffhangers, you now have just one to worry about._

_[ hurray for the proofreader! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ ]_

 

_Anyways, enjoy what is now the rest of chapter 3!_

 

\---

 

“Can we talk?”

 

“Yeah, sure. Come on in?”

 

Jihoon shuffled inside the room, closing the door behind him.

 

“What’s up?”

 

Jihoon refused to sit down when offered a seat on the bed, feeling too nervous to sit down. The person opposite of him sat down on the bed, looking slightly confused.

 

“Is it something serious?”

 

Jihoon shook his head, internally still gathering courage. It was silent in the room as expectant eyes looked up at him. He played with his sleeves, suddenly not knowing how to handle himself.

 

“Uh, Jihoon? I know you said you wanted to talk but you've been kinda quiet and…”

 

“Go out with me.” Jihoon suddenly blurts out the words he'd been trying to get out, albeit not in this way. He had this whole speech prepared.

 

“What?”

 

“Yoon Jeonghan, will you go out with me?”

 

  
\---

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Real names → Stage names
> 
> **Lee Jihoon** → _Woozi_  
>  **Hong Jisoo** → _Joshua_  
>  **Choi Seungcheol** → _S.Coups_  
>  **Lee Seokmin** → _DK_  
>  **Kwon Soonyoung** → _Hoshi_  
>  **Wen Junhui** → _Jun_  
>  **Xu Minghao** → _The8_  
>  **Chwe Hansol** → _Vernon_  
>  **Jung Taekwoon** → (VIXX) _Leo_  
>  **Kim Namjoon** → (BTS) _Rapmonster_  
>  **Choi Yejin** → _OC_  
>  **Lee Chanhee** → _OC_  
>  **Boo Jihye** → _OC_


	5. Suits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N  
> Hey! It's Litha. I am so sorry for taking so long on the new chapter! I got swamped with work and personal stuff... my best friend passed away last summer and I just couldnt get myself to continue writing this fanfic centered around her bias....  
> I am a bit better now, but I apologize for the chapter being kind of short.  
> I also dropped the beta so maybe I can update a little more often, when life isn't busy...

“Is this your idea of dressing up? Geez dude, no wonder you need my help.”

 

“I didn’t ask for your help, you just barged in!”

 

“And it’s good that I did!”

 

Jeonghan sulked as Seungkwan once again disapproved of his outfit.

“Besides. What’s wrong with this outfit? You seemed to love it when we bought it together?”

 

Seungkwan sighed. “That was ages ago. It still is a fine suit, it’s just not good enough right now.”

He eyed Jeonghan up and down, clicking his tongue, seemingly lost in his thoughts.

 

“How is it not good enough now?” Jeonghan asked, looking at his suit in the mirror. It was a kind of burgundy color,  it still fit him perfectly, despite the fact that they had bought this suit well over a year ago. It was a bit too big for him back then, but it seemed that Seungkwan had an eye for these things.

 

“It clashes with your hair!” Seungkwan threw his hands up in frustration, going through the clothes in Jeonghans closet. He didn’t ask for permission, but Jeonghan knew better than to disrupt Seungkwan when he was in diva mode.

Once again looking in the mirror, he realized Seungkwan was right.

He had only been focussing on the fit of the suit, not the entire picture. The deep red/purplish color paired really well with his skin, and it would have looked amazing, were it not for the fact that it did not pair well with his silvery/lilac hair.

 

“Here, put this one on.”

Seungkwan disrupted his thoughts, holding out a suit to him, before leaving the room.

 

Jeonghan stared at the midnight blue suit in his hands. As always, Seungkwan had impeccable taste, he thought to himself while holding it up to his hair. The color matched his hair well.

He started taking off the burgundy suit and put on the dark blue one.

Even though he wouldnt need it for another few days, Seungkwan insisted everyone try on and pick out their suits today, just in case.

Lucky for him, the blue suit also still fit perfectly.

 

Well, mostly.

 

The only thing that had to be altered were the sleeves, being way too long. Nothing a tailor couldn’t fix.

The door opened and Seungkwan walked back in again, Joshua trailing behind him in a red suit.

 

“How does it look?” Seungkwan asked as he walked up to the walk-in closet.

 

Jeonghan turned around, tugging at his sleeves, prompting Seungkwan to tug at the material as well. “Might need the sleeves altered.”

 

Seungkwan tugged again, nodding in agreement. “I’ll call the tailor over. You can stay with Jeonghan while the tailor is here, right Joshua?”

Joshua nodded, not wanting to interrupt Seungkwan while he was this busy.

 

“In the meantime there’s Jihoon to help. He has trouble matching his suit to his hair as well. I really love your hairstyles, but it sure as hell makes picking out a fancy suit a hell of a lot more difficult!”

 

At the mention of Jihoons name, Jeonghan was reminded of the events of last night.

 

“Yoon Jeonghan, will you go out with me?”

 

The words echoed through his head, and he unintentionally called out for Seungkwan to stop.

 

The fluffy haired boy stopped in his tracks, walking back into the closet where Jeonghan and Joshua stood.

“Yeah, anything else Jeonghan?”

 

Joshua also looked at him with curiosity. It was generally not a good idea to disrupt Seungkwan whilst he was playing stylist like this. Especially since he wanted everything to be perfect for the dinner party, the first one he actually helped organise.

 

“Jihoon asked me out last night.”

 

Joshua’s eyes widened in surprise, and Seungkwan almost dropped his notebook, mouth slightly hanging open.

 

“AND YOU’RE ONLY TELLING ME THIS NOW?!” Seungkwan shrieked, causing the other boys present to cover their ears. His voice had suddenly risen a few octaves and Jeonghan was pretty sure that he was going to get complaints about excessive noise if Seungkwan didn’t stop.

 

Seeing their pained expressions, Seungkwan realized he was being overly loud again, immediately shutting his mouth again.

 

“Everything alright, young master?” The Boo family tailor came walking in, looking rather worried.

 

Seungkwan smiled wide. “Yeah, everything is just fine.”

 

The tailor looked a little uncomfortable, but quickly regained his composure as he bowed to the 3 boys gathered in the walk-in closet of Jeonghans dorm room. It was rather crowded, now that 4 people occupied the space, a fifth just joining them.

 

“I heard Seungkwan all the way from the other side of the building. Is everything okay?”

Jihoon pops his head in, curious about both Seungkwans whereabouts as well as why he was screaming like that.

 

Jeonghan lived in a dormroom at the east corner of the building, in room 17. Jihoon the other side, the west corner, in room 2. Being a prestigious college for the wealthy, the rooms were rather big. If they wanted to visit each other, they'd have to cross the entire length of the building. That's why they mostly hung out in room 9, Joshua’s room, because it was right in the middle. Also because it was close to the elevators.

 

Seungkwan just twirled around, catching Jihoon in a big bear hug. The older boy was not pleased, trying to push him off.

“Congratulations, you sneaky bastard!”

 

Jihoon sent a glance in Jeonghans direction, a slight blush creeping up his cheeks.

“You told him?!”

 

The tailor stood by, watching as the boys bickered, a small smile on his face. It was nice to see Seungkwan get along so well with these boys, even if they were older than he was.

Despite the bickering, it seemed that these boys had accepted Seungkwan as one of their own, and were not using him for his wealth. It was a thing that had happened before in the past, and he could remember how broken up the boy was about it.

 

He cleared his throath, and now 4 pairs of brown eyes looked at him.

“Young masters, may I remind you that neither I, nor you, have all day to prepare for the banquet that's being held end of this week?”

 

Seungkwan clasped his hands. “Right! Jihoon, I'm coming with you to pick out a suit, and you're going to tell me everything about last night. Jeonghan, you are going to tell me as well, after I come back tonight. I'm going shopping with Hansol first.

Alfonso, you take care of their tailoring work. Jeonghan only needs his sleeves altered, Joshua’s jacket needs to be taken in around the waist area, and also his pants are too long, but that's as far as I can see. Tailor it to perfection. You know the drill.”

 

The tailor nodded, following everyone out the closet and inside Jeonghans room. Seungkwan waved everyone goodbye as he and Jihoon left te room. Alfonso, the tailor went to work, taking out his measuring tape first.

 

“Did you say yes?” Joshua suddenly blurted out the question, startling Jeonghan. It had occured to him that they had never heard the answer, only that Jihoon had asked him out.

 

This time, it was Jeonghans turn to blush lightly.

“Yes, I did.”

 

Joshua paid no attention to the blush, smiling serenely instead.

“Well congratulations, I'm sure you'll make a very cute couple.”

 

Jeonghan returned the smile, grateful that Joshua didn't tease him about blushing, which some of his friends would have done.

“Thank you.”

 

It was silent for a while as Alfonso worked on the fit of Joshua’s jacket. The yellow pins he used formed a stark contrast with the red material of Joshua’s suit.

Jeonghan just stared at the color, thinking that he should wear his own red suit at least once.

 

Since they were still relatively young, they could still pull off wearing colored suits like this. But they were in their last year of high school, and starting college soon, he knew the period in which this was acceptable, wasn’t going to last much longer.

 

“When’s the date?” Joshua broke the silence, waking Jeonghan from his thoughts.

 

“The day after the Boo dinner party. It's ideal because we'll be staying with our families for the weekend, and don't have to stay on school grounds. We could just sneak off, but I wouldn't know how, and as far as I know, Jihoon doesn't either.

Rule breaking isn't really my thing.”

 

Joshua suddenly burst out into laughter, somehow managing to stay still enough as to not disrupt Alfonso with his adjustments to the suit.

Jeonghan only looked at him confused, not understanding what was so funny about the situation.

 

The laughter eventually ceased whilst Alfonso compared different colours of thread to the suit, eventually settling on one and starting to sew the suit right there and then, whilst Joshua was still wearing it.

 

Jeonghan kept silent, waiting for Joshua to explain his sudden laughing fit. But the latter kept silent, as there was a needle close to his core.

A moving one.

 

Jeonghan played with the cuffs on his sleeves, not knowing what else to do, but a stern look from Alfonso made him stop his actions. Just like everyone in the Boo family, he’d rather not piss off the tailor working for the Boo family. Or anyone in the Boo family for that matter.

 

Alfonso got on his knees to work on the pants and Joshua released the breath he’d unknowingly been holding. Jeonghan combed one hand through his hair, a futile attempt to keep it out of his face. His pale face seemd even paler, illuminated by the faint light coming through the windows, and Joshua could only stare. Jihoon was lucky an angel like this agreed to go out with him.

 

“Joshua?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Why were you laughing?”

 

Joshua shrugs. “It's just that I tried imagining you and Jihoon breaking the rules together. It just looked so cute and surreal!”

 

Jeonghan frowned again. “That’s it? That's what got you laughing so hard?”

 

“It was funnier in my imagination.”

 

Alfonso stood up, eyeing his work on Joshua’s suit.

 

“The basic work is done. If you could change, I can take the suit in and finish alterations in the atelier.”

 

Joshua nodded, quietly leaving the room to get changed. Alfonso went to pin Jeonghans sleeves in the meantime, careful to not accidentally prick the delicate skin.

 

A casually dressed Joshua came back in as Alfonso requested Jeonghan to stretch his arms over his head to test the pinned length of the sleeves. The pins grazed his wrists, but did not break the skin.

Alfonso hummed in affirmation and he lowered his arms again, patiently holding them still as the tailor compared different colors of blue thread and started the basic stitching.

With his red suit in hands, Joshua stood by, silently watching.

 

“Hey, you want me to drop you off at your place this weekend?”

Jeonghan suddenly asked Joshua.

 

“My sister is coming to pick me up, but we can drop you off on the way?”

 

Joshua smiled, shaking his head. “Nah, thanks, I'm good. There are friends for America coming over so I'll be leaving Friday instead of Saturday. I'll introduce you to them at the dinnerparty? “

  
Jeonghan smiled serenely. “Sounds good.”

\---

Lee Jihoon → Woozi  
Hong Jisoo → Joshua


	6. Smoke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _A/N : Yes, I know it has been a while since I updated this story. I have been very busy and couldn't get myself to work on this story more. But it has been a year since the accident that took my best friend away from me and I think I owe it to her to at least try and move on and finish this story._  
>  Updates might still be slow but I'll try. Thanks to everyone who is still with me, even after all this time. I love you all.

Jeonghan yawned as he walked up to the gate, early saturday morning.  
Most of his friends had already gone home on Friday. Seungkwan and Jihye because it was their parents hosting the party, Joshua because he had friends coming over from America and Jihoon had just left without a word.

The Hansol kid, that seemed to hang out alot with Seungkwan had left with Joshua, much to the surprise of Seungcheol and his friends.

Turns out he knew the youngest of the family that had come over to visit Joshua’s family.

 

How he knew? Since the detention on the first day after summer break, their groups of friends seemed to spend more time with the people they met there.

 

Well. Just the people with the 17 mark. The others seemed to have friends of their own, but he suspected he would see a few of them at the party tonight.

In the end, it turned out that detention, and the marks were not the only thing they shared. Apparently, Hansol was pretty close knit with Seungcheol and his friends before he met Seungkwan, and now they alternated between the groups, much like Chan and Jihye did.

 

It puzzled him how the groups didn’t get mixed up sooner.

  
 

A black mercedes pulled up in front of him, a honk breaking him from his thoughts.

“Hey there dreamer, need a ride?”

 

Jeonghan looked inside the car, to find his sister smiling at him from the passenger seat.

He frowned. It was not like her to sit in the passenger seat. She either drove the car, or would sit in the backseat when the car had a driver.

 

A sudden hand on his shoulder made him jump up, causing his sister to burst out in laughter. Low chuckling rumbled next to his ear. Looking to his left, he saw Seungcheol leaning over as the chuckling transitioned into full blown laughter. He still had his hand on Jeonghans shoulder for support. The pressure had him leaning to his left a little, but he managed to keep standing.

 

He patiently waited until Seungcheols fit of laughter subsided, ready to say his goodbyes, when the boy let go of his shoulder and walked straight towards the car.

Jeonghan stood, watching in confusion as the older boy slipped into the back, his dark hair being the last thing to disappear from sight.

 

“Jeonghanniee, you coming?” His sister asked expectantly.

Seungcheol had left the door open, and Jeonghan climbed onto the back seat as well, sitting down in the spot behind his sister.

He closed the door behind him, and the faint smell of cigarettes wafted towards him.

Fastening his seatbelt, he looked over to the drivers side.

 

He knew his sister and Seungcheol didn’t smoke, so it had to be the stylish man behind the wheel.

The two of them also seemed rather comfortable with the man, leaving Jeonghan even more confused than he originally was.

 

The car took off and he shot a confused look at Seungcheol, who in return, gave him an equally confused look.

 

“How do you know my sister?” Jeonghan asked. At the same time Seungcheol asked “How do you know my brother?” The questions were perfectly in sync.

 

“I don't, I thought you knew her!” Jeonghan answered at the same time Seungcheol answered “I don't, I thought you knew him!”

Their replies were again perfectly in sync, causing the two people in the front seats to laugh.

 

“ So, what is your sister doing in my brothers car?”

Seungcheol asked Jeonghan, who shrugged in response.

“I don't know, you should ask her.”

 

Seungcheol turned to the front of the car, facing Jeonghans sister. She already looked his way, sending him a bright smile. It made him wonder how the two were related. At first sight, the two seemed nothing alike.

 

“I was actually on my way to pick up Jeonghan when my car broke down. Luckily, your brother happened to pass by and he waited with me while we waited for the tow company to take the car to the garage.

I was just about to call a taxi, but he asked where I was going. So I told him I was headed to Hallyu academy to pick up my little brother, and he offered me a ride because he was headed here for the same reason.”

 

It was silent for a while as the engine purred smoothly. Jeonghan took the time to study the man behind the wheel for a bit.

As he glanced at Seungcheol, he could clearly tell the two were brothers. Despite the fact that Seungcheol had dark hair and his brother bleached white hair, the resemblance was still striking.

And if he were to be honest, it made him feel a bit jealous.

 

People often weren’t able to tell Jeonghan and his sister were family. Sometimes, when they smiled. That was about it.

It was still weird that people were actually shocked to hear the two were family. It's not like they could help that his sister looked like their father, while he very much resembled their mother.

 

“Have you been invited to the Boo family dinner party as well?”

 

The deep, rumbling voice from the man behind the wheel pulled him from his thoughts. He had not expected such a deep voice on him.

He did not know what he did expect, but it certainly wasn't this.

 

In the time that Jeonghan kept silent, his sister had already answered and was now babbling away about who knows what. He just tuned her out as he slumped in his seat, yawning.

Seungcheol sent him a confused look.

 

“How can you be tired? We got to sleep in!”

 

Jeonghan stifled another yawn.

“Maybe you did, but Yejin, Chanhee and Taekwoon kept me up till late at night. And then Mingyu dragged me out of bed at 7:30 to play basketball. Apparently he needed an ace to beat Jooheon and his friends.”

 

Jeonghan turned a bit towards Seungcheol, looking at him with sleepy eyes.

“Why didn’t they ask you?”

 

Seungcheol shot a nervous glance in the direction of his brother, before turning back to Jeonghan.

“You remember that fight I got in?”

 

Jeonghan nodded. How could he forget that fight? It was the first day after summer break. He had gotten detention for giving the teacher attitude. Seungcheol for fighting on school grounds. The fight was one of the reasons they'd met.

 

Seungcheol continued. ”I actually tried to protect my friends at first. So it was 4 against one. I got beaten up pretty bad, that’s when the rest stepped in. More people from both sides.  
I, however got the worst of it. My ribs are still healing. The nurse said they're bruised, but okay otherwise, i just have to keep my rest for now.”

 

Jeonghan now faced Seungcheol with new found admiration. During detention he had passed it off as nothing special, but it seemed like he really tried to take care of his friends.

 

“So that’s why you needed another player. But why me?”

Leaning his head to the side, Jeonghan found himself in a rather comfortable position.

 

Seungcheol shrugged. “Seungkwan told us you were pretty good. I guess that’s why. Did you win?”

 

Jeonghan murmured something inaudible, eyes closed. Seungcheol didn't ask again, knowing that the long haired male was close to falling asleep. And he didn't plan on disturbing the younger when he was looking so peaceful. So instead, he mimicked Jeonghans position, falling asleep soon after.

Their siblings exchanged smiles as they continued the journey home.

 

\---

 

Jeonghan woke to Seungcheol softly poking his shoulder. He lazily tried to swat away the hand, and temporarily succeeded, before he was poked again.

 

“Go find someone else for your team, I am tired!” Jeonghan refused to open his eyes as he tried to get Seungcheol to stop poking him.

 

“Jeonghan?”

 

“What?”

 

“We’ve arrived at your house.”

 

He kept silent for a bit, trying to get his sleepy brain to remember what had happened prior to falling asleep.

“Oh.”

 

Unfastening his seatbelt, he waved his goodbyes at Seungcheol before leaving the car, gathering his luggage from the trunk.

 

Seungcheol’s brother rolled down the window, leaning out of it, an unlit sigarette dangling from his lips. No matter what he did, it looked cool to Jeonghan. Even if it was being a bad example. He started wondering what his name was. He never caught it because he wasn’t paying attention.

 

“Should I pick you up for tonight? Since your car broke down…”

 

His sister smiled. “That’d be lovely.”

 

“Actually hyung, is it alright if I hang out with Jeonghan for the day? I have my tux with me anyway..”

Seungcheol leaned out of the window as well, looking to the side.

 

“At least, if that’s okay with Jeonghan?” he added.

 

Jeonghan looked at his sister. It was her house after all, even though he practically lived there too during the holidays. It beat living with his dad and his new wife. The only reason he stayed at his dads house during summer break was because his sister was overseas for business, having swapped houses with a business partner for the same duration of time.

 

Seungcheols brother stepped out of the car, lighting his cigarette as he leaned back against the hood.

“What do you think, Mi Rae?”

 

Jeonghans sister smiled. “Fine by me. You can take him back home after the party right, Seunghyun?”

 

Seunghyun. So that was his name. Even his name sounded cool.

No wonder Seungcheol seemed to look up to him.

 

The tall man seemed to be in thought for a little bit before nodding.

 

“You sure you don’t want to stay the night?” Jeonghans sister suddenly asked, catching the two boys off guard.

 

“Euh, euhm, no thanks, maybe another time. I’m sure Jeonghan already has plans…”

Seungcheol was quick to answer, giving Jeonghan a meaningful look. Obviously, everyone apparently already knew about his date with Jihoon tomorrow.

 

“That’s fine, just let me know, okay?”

Mi Rae smiled brightly at Seungcheol, who shyly returned the smile.

 

Seunghyun retrieved an ashtray from his car, killing the cigarette before dropping the butt in, putting it back in his car. It earned him an appreciative smile from Mi Rae.

Seungcheol got his tuxedo from the trunk, carefully draping it over his arm before closing the trunk.

Within seconds, one of Mi Rae’s servants was at his side, gently taking the tuxedo from him, while another one tended to Jeonghans luggage.

 

Jeonghans sister just clacked her tongue at how late they were, earning her apologetic glances from the staff as they carried the luggage towards the mansion.

 

Seunghyun got back in his car, leaning out the window again.

 

“i’ll see you tonight then.”

 

Seungcheol smiled brightly at his brother. “Bye!”

 

They all stepped back as the engine purred to life, the car smoothly rolling down the driveway. Seungcheol and Mi Rae waved the car goodbye, Jeonghan joining in a little later.

With a honk of the horn, the car drove around a curve, disappearing from sight.

 

“Well, who wants drinks~?”

 

Mi Rae clasped her hands together in delight as she practically floated back to the house, her step light and airy as she went back inside.

The boys looked at each other, shrugging as they followed her in.

 

\---

 

The Boo mansion was impressive, to say the least. It was big, and spacious. It had a lot of windows as well. Jeonghan felt sorry for the people in charge of cleaning the windows every time he visited.

Which was a lot.

 

Exotic art was strategically placed all throughout the house, most of it from other asian countries.

Dinner parties at the Boo mansion were always a big deal. All socialités who were someone, had these parties on their bucket list.

 

Seungcheol trailed behind Jeonghan as he weaved a way through the people gathered in the mansion. He seemed awfully skilled in doing this, clearly familiar with the house as he found his destination with ease.

 

Seungkwan and Jihye seemed to brighten up considerably when spotting them. Seungcheol was just about to walk up to them when he was gently pushed aside by Hansol and Soonyoung. They weren’t with them, which made Seungcheol wonder if they had followed them.

 

Jeonghan lightly hugged Jihye, who looked surprisingly sophisticated in her black velvet dress. A sparkling studded choker hinted at her normal every day style, but the piece was a classy accessory with this outfit. Her silver hair was an intricate updo with a lot of braids and curls, and Jeonghan knew he was gonna hear complaints about tangled hair for days.

Seungkwan looked equally dashing, in a suit that was of course, fitted to perfection by the family tailor. He looked slimmer, taller, and somehow more muscular. The deep, burgundy red color complemented both his hair and eyes.

 

Seungkwan critically gave his friends a once over, as if checking if his tailor had done a good job. Of course he had done a good job.

Seungcheol looked more handsome than ever, in his sleek black suit. Vernons eyes seemed to have gathered extra sparkle as he smoothed out his dark grey suit.

Sooyoung's light blue suit stood out, but he somehow managed to pull it off as it matched his blonde and blue hair.

 

Suddenly, Seungkwan let out a squeal of delight, just as someone poked Jeonghans side.

He turned his head, only to be met with pink hair in his face.

Jihoon seemed to be doing this to him a lot nowadays.

 

It was then that he noticed the suit.

 

“Seungkwan?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Did you have Jihoon and me match suits on purpose?”

 

“...maybe”

 

Jihoon looked at Jeonghan. “You do look very handsome though…”

 

Jeonghan looked at Jihoon in surprise. This was not how Jihoon usually was. Compliments were rare from the smaller male, especially on nights like these, when there were a lot of people around.

The other boys stared in shock too, before quickly complimenting them both on their midnight blue suits.

 

Then distraction came in the form of Jun and Minghao. Both looked stunning in their chinese style jackets. Delicate patterns were embroidered in the silk with golden threads and the material shimmered subtly in the light whenever they moved.

 

Yejin, Chan and Chanhee stared at their suits in silence as they joined their little group.

Yejin was wearing a flowy, emerald green dress that very much complimented her eyes. There were sparkling elements subtly woven in, giving the illusion the dress was glowing.

 

Chanhee wore a purple dress, with a pearly shine on it, which made the dress a stark reminder to a peacock. But if you’d ask her, she would say the dress was rainbow, justs like her hair.

 

Chan looked playful in his purple suit, the color a match to his sister's dress.

It had Jeonghan wondering if Seungkwan and Jihye didn’t secretly plan on this. But the smug look on their faces said enough. They definitely had a conspiracy going on.

 

When Namjoon walked by in an emerald green suit, he knew for sure.

The other day Taekwoon had entrusted to him that he and Jihye were trying to set Yejin and Namjoon up.

 

He just watched as Jihye called Namjoon over, who casually sauntered over as 2 of his friends trailed behind him.

His attempt to look cool failed horribly however, when he tripped over his own feet. The friends just barely managed not to get taken down as well by his flailing arms.

Yejin rushed over to help him. Jihye just sent him a wink as she excused herself to get him some ice.

Taekwoon busied Chanhee while the rest diverted their attention to the rest of the gang arriving as well.

 

Jeonghan was surprised at how casual they made it all look.

 

Mingyu and Wonwoo of course wore matching black suits, even having matched their blue bowties. Seokmin also wore black.

Joshua looked dashing in his grey suit, having accentuated his cat-like eyes even more with make up.

 

Yejin was properly blushing by now, in the corner still trying to take care of Namjoon. His friends had disappeared, probably looking for the rest of their friends.

He could just spot Taekwoons back as he was headed for the garden, Chanhee by his side.

Jihye returned empty handed, just a devious smirk on her face as she hugged the 4 boys that had just arrived before darting off to who knows where.

 

“What time tomorrow?”

Jihoons voice interrupted his thoughts and he looked at the smaller male next to him.

 

“What?”

 

“The date. What time?”

 

Jeonghan thought for a bit. It was true they hadn’t set a time for the date yet and it was tomorrow.

 

“How about I pick you up for lunch?”

 

“Ok.”

\---

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Lee Jihoon** → _Woozi_  
>  **Hong Jisoo** → _Joshua_  
>  **Choi Seungcheol** → _S.Coups_  
>  **Lee Seokmin** → _DK_  
>  **Kwon Soonyoung** → _Hoshi_  
>  **Wen Junhui** → _Jun_  
>  **Xu Minghao** → _The8_  
>  **Lee Chan** → _Dino_  
>  **Jung Taekwoon** → _(VIXX) Leo_  
>  **Kim Namjoon** → _(BTS) Rapmonster_  
>  **Choi Seunghyun** → _T.O.P_  
>  _Choi Yejin_ → _OC_  
>  Lee Chanhee → _OC_  
>  Boo Jihye → _OC_


End file.
